Ministry of All the Talents

A group of naked British Whig politicians, including three Grenvilles, Sheridan, St. Vincent, Moira, Temple, Erskine, Howick, Petty, Whitbread, Sheridan, Windham, and Tomline, Bishop of Lincoln, crossing the river Styx in a boat named the Broad Bottom Packet. Sidmouth's head emerges from the water next to the boat. The boat's torn sail has inscription "Catholic Emancipation" and the centre mast is crowned with the Prince of Wales feathers and motto "Ich Dien". On the far side the shades of Cromwell, Charles Fox and Robespierre wave to them. Overhead, on brooms, are the Three Fates; to the left a three-headed dog. Above the boat three birds soil the boat and politicians. — A caricature of the ministry's break-up: James Gillray's *Charon's Boat.—or—the Ghosts of "all the Talents" taking their last voyage* (1807). Charles Grey, Lord Howick rows and John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent steers.

The Ministry of All the Talents was a national unity government in the United Kingdom formed by William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, on his appointment as Prime Minister on 11 February 1806, following the death of William Pitt the Younger.^[1]^[2]

History

With the country remaining at war, Grenville aimed to form the strongest possible government and so included most leading politicians from almost all groupings, although some followers of the younger Pitt, led by George Canning, refused to join.

The inclusion of Charles James Fox surprised some as King George III had previously been very hostile to Fox, but the King's willingness to put aside past enmities for the sake of national unity encouraged many others to join or support the government as well. The ministry boasted a fairly progressive agenda, much of it inherited from Pitt.

The Ministry of All the Talents had comparatively little success, failing to bring the sought-after peace with France. In fact, the war continued for nearly another decade. It did, however, abolish the slave trade in Britain in 1807 before breaking up in 1807 over the question of Catholic emancipation.

It was succeeded by the Second Portland ministry, headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland.

List of ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

*Portrait of Lord Grenville* by John Hoppner. Grenville, a former ally of Pitt the Younger, led the government during its thirteen months in office.

*Portrait of Lord Moira* by Joshua Reynolds. Moira represented the supporters of the Prince of Wales in the cabinet.

Office	Name	Date
First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	The Lord Grenville	11 February 1806 – 31 March 1807
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Lord Henry Petty	11 February 1806 – 31 March 1807
Joint Secretaries to the Treasury	Nicholas Vansittart	February 1806 – March 1807
	John King	February – July 1806
	William Henry Fremantle	July 1806 – March 1807
Junior Lords of the Treasury	Viscount Althorp, William Wickham and John Courtenay	11 February 1806
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Erskine	February 1806
Lord President of the Council	The Earl Fitzwilliam	19 February 1806
Lord President of the Council	The Viscount Sidmouth	8 October 1806
Lord Privy Seal	The Viscount Sidmouth	February 1806
Lord Privy Seal	The Lord Holland	8 October 1806
Secretary of State for the Home Department	The Earl Spencer	5 February 1806
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Charles Williams-Wynn	February 1806
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leader of the House of Commons	Charles James Fox	7 February 1806 – 13 September 1806
	Viscount Howick	24 September 1806
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	George Walpole and Sir Francis Vincent	February 1806 – March 1807
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	William Windham	February 1806
Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	Sir George Shee and Sir James Cockburn	February 1806 – March 1807
First Lord of the Admiralty	Charles Grey^[a]	10 February 1806
First Lord of the Admiralty	Thomas Grenville	29 September 1806
First Secretary to the Admiralty	William Marsden	Continued in office
Civil Lords of the Admiralty	Sir Philip Stephens	10 February – 23 October 1806
	Lord William Russell and The Lord Kensington	10 February 1806 – 31 March 1807
	William Frankland	23 October 1806 – 31 March 1807
President of the Board of Trade	The Lord Auckland	5 February 1806
Vice-President of the Board of Trade^[b]	Earl Temple	5 February 1806
President of the Board of Control	The Lord Minto	12 February 1806
	Thomas Grenville	16 July 1806
	George Tierney	1 October 1806
Secretary to the Board of Control	Thomas Creevey	14 February 1806
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Earl of Derby	12 February 1806
Master-General of the Ordnance	The Earl of Moira	February 1806
Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance	Sir Thomas Trigge	Continued in office
Treasurer of the Ordnance	Alexander Davison	20 February 1806
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance	James Murray Hadden	Continued in office
Clerk of the Ordnance	John Calcraft	22 February 1806
Clerk of the Deliveries of the Ordnance	James Lloyd	12 March 1806
Storekeeper of the Ordnance	John McMahon	22 February 1806
Treasurer of the Navy	Richard Brinsley Sheridan	February 1806
Secretary at War	Richard FitzPatrick	February 1806
Master of the Mint	Lord Charles Spencer	February 1806
Master of the Mint	Charles Bathurst	October 1806
Paymaster of the Forces	Earl Temple and Lord John Townshend	February 1806 – March 1807
Postmaster General	The Earl of Carysfort and The Earl of Buckinghamshire	February 1806 – March 1807
Minister without Portfolio	The Earl Fitzwilliam	October 1806 – March 1807
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Duke of Bedford	12 March 1806
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Duke of Richmond	11 April 1807
Chief Secretary for Ireland	William Elliot	February 1806
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench	The Lord Ellenborough	Continued in office
Attorney General	Sir Arthur Piggott	12 February 1806
Solicitor General	Sir Samuel Romilly	12 February 1806
Judge Advocate General	Nathaniel Bond	8 March 1806
Lord Advocate	Henry Erskine	February 1806
Solicitor General for Scotland	John Clerk	February 1806
Attorney General for Ireland	William Plunket	Continued in office
Solicitor General for Ireland	Charles Kendal Bushe	Continued in office
Lord Steward of the Household	The Earl of Aylesford	Continued in office
Treasurer of the Household	Lord Ossulston	12 February 1806
Comptroller of the Household	Lord George Thynne	Continued in office
Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Earl of Dartmouth	Continued in office
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Lord John Thynne	Continued in office
Master of the Horse	The Earl of Carnarvon	8 February 1806
Master of the Buckhounds	The Earl of Albemarle	12 February 1806
Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners	The Lord St John of Bletso	12 February 1806
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Earl of Macclesfield	Continued in office

Notes

^ Styled Viscount Howick from 11 April 1806.
^ Earl Temple concurrently served as Paymaster of the Forces and Vice-President of the Board of Trade.

Other uses of the term

The term has since been used in politics to describe an administration with members from more than one party or even a non-coalition government that enjoys cross-party support due to gifted and/or non-partisan members. Examples include the coalition government which led the United Kingdom through the Second World War and the Canadian government that won the 1896 election.^[3] In Ireland, the Government of the 20th Dáil (a Fine Gael–Labour coalition that was in office between 1973 and 1977) was widely called the "cabinet of all the talents."^[4]^[5]^[6]

References

^ Harvey, A.D. (1972). "The Ministry of All the Talents: The Whigs in Office, February 1806 to March 1807". Historical Journal. 15 (4): 619–648. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00003484. JSTOR 2638036.
^ "Lord William Wyndham Grenville". Archived from the original on 13 August 2009 – via DukesOfBuckingham.org.uk.
^ John Holland Rose (1929). The Cambridge history of the British Empire: The Growth of the new Empire (Google books). Cambridge University Press. p. 511.
^ "40 years on, three 'talents' remain". independent. 6 October 2017.
^ Burns, John. "Cosgrave's 'no nonsense' farewell" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
^ "Liam Cosgrave 1920-2017". 1 December 2017.

Preceded by Second Pitt ministry	Government of the United Kingdom 1806–1807	Succeeded by Second Portland ministry

[3] Styled Viscount Howick from 11 April 1806.

[Temple-4] Earl Temple concurrently served as Paymaster of the Forces and Vice-President of the Board of Trade.

[1] Harvey, A.D. (1972). "The Ministry of All the Talents: The Whigs in Office, February 1806 to March 1807". Historical Journal. 15 (4): 619–648. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00003484. JSTOR 2638036.

[2] "Lord William Wyndham Grenville". Archived from the original on 13 August 2009 – via DukesOfBuckingham.org.uk.

[5] John Holland Rose (1929). The Cambridge history of the British Empire: The Growth of the new Empire (Google books). Cambridge University Press. p. 511.

[6] "40 years on, three 'talents' remain". independent. 6 October 2017.

[7] Burns, John. "Cosgrave's 'no nonsense' farewell" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.

[8] "Liam Cosgrave 1920-2017". 1 December 2017.

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Current ministry

History

List of ministers

Other uses of the term

See also

References